


Memory Free

by FluffWitch



Category: Ghost - Mystery Skulls (Music Video), Mystery Skulls (Band)
Genre: AU, Arthur ALSO forgets about Lewis, Arthur centric maybe, Lewis is fucking pissed, Minor Original Character, Multi, Mystery is acting a bit weird, Platonic Relationships, Romance hinted, Romantic Friendship, Vivi forgets all about Lewis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-06-03 21:53:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6628018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffWitch/pseuds/FluffWitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They hold no memory over the accident that caused the loss of his arm or the beggining of her odd dreams. They don't truly care about it either way; Don't look behind, only forwards. Arthur and Vivi would help eachother to move on from the apparent traumatic experience they both suffered.</p><p>A certain spirit isn't as keen as to just forgive and forget. He would never forget, not until he got his hand on his murderer.</p><p>Lewis stills remembers, and Arthur will pay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

A low groan escaped from dry lips. Small needles of pain stabbing his sides as he tried to open his eyes, finding that even twitching his eyelids seemed to zap most of his energy.

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

His nose twitched, the smell of rubbing alcohol and something just as sterile making him wince internally. Why did his room smelled like that? The only bottle of rubbing alcohol he owned was safely tucked away in the first aid kit in the bathroom, not been used since the day he bought it.

And his room often smelled of either pizza or burnt metal.

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

Why was his alarm beeping? It was the weekend, he remembers. He wanted to sleep just a bit more before going to the garage and help his uncle Lance with the cars.

Just a few more minutes…

Lance wouldn’t mind.

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

Eyelids twitched again, the smell of alcohol growing stronger and nauseating. There was a small weight near his legs, pushing down slightly. The pain on his sides was making him wince from abdomen and up, yet oddly his left side was feeling numb, like pin and needles.

There was a soft murmur above the annoying beeping, he can recognize the voice.

_“Vivi?”_

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

Arthur blinked awake, a small groan escaping his lips as he tried to take in his surrounds. At first he thought it was light making him wince, but it was just white. White walls, ceiling and floor. The smell of rubbing alcohol coming from a small desk at his side, the soreness of his body coming from tightly wrapped bandages around his midsection.

The weight on his legs was his best friend, her head on his legs as her body arched in what he guessed had to be a very uncomfortable position to sleep while sitting.

“V-Viv…?”

  
His right arm, the closest to her, moved up to shake the girl awake. His surprised gasp at seeing the IV cords connected was muffled, staring at them as a child would do to a weird bug.

He was hurt, he was in a hospital, and Vivi was there, not hurt. Not like him.

What happened? Did he crashed the van?

“V-Viv, wake u-up…”

“Whu…?”

Bright blue eyes blinked away, for once not hiding behind pink tinted glasses. The young woman blinked another time before gasping, and Arthur would have jumped at her sudden reaction if his body wasn’t in such pain.

“Artie!”

“Vi--ugh!”

A pair of soft arms enveloped him, and he had to wince just slightly as the pin and needles feeling shot up to all his right side. Vivi hugged him tightly, not one of her “I-hug-you-cause-I-can” hugs, but a “I-thought-I-would-never-see-you-again” one.

If there ever was one.

Her body shook slightly, gasping out words of relief as she gripped his shoulders tightly. Only a few seconds after the initial shock did Arthur notice that she was sobbing, still muttering nonsense to his ears, gripping so tight as if he would disappear at any given second.

“V-Vivi, w-what…?”

“I-I thought y-you wouldn’t open your e-eyes.” Vivi gasped, struggling to speak. “S-So many days, I-I thought…”

It was only when he tried to hug her back when he realized the numbness was the only thing weighing on his left side.

His right arm functioned well, sans some stiffness, he managed grasp Vivi’s back in what he tried to make a hug. For a second he thought his left arm was asleep, he could feel his fingers twitching slightly just as he finally looked.

No arm.

Nothing but a stump in white, sterile bandages covering it. A purplish bruise escaping the white cloth only to disappear under the hospital robe’s shoulder. Hurting. Pin and needles shooting from it.

His hand clenched hard on Vivi’s sweater, her shaking joined by his own as he tried not to hyperventilate, staring at the stump where his left arm was supposed to be.

“V-Vivi?! V-Viv, m-my...o-oh god. W-What h-happened to my...o-oh god, oh god.”

The forgotten beeping got faster, louder, almost ringing right on his ears as he tried to breathe, holding onto Vivi for dear life as a drowning man would do to a lifesaver. Color leaving his face as he kept staring.

He could still feel his fingers.

“O-Oh god, oh god, oh god…!”

He barely noticed the doors, just as white as the floor, slam open with violence. Men and women he didn’t know pushed a hysterical Vivi away, pulling her out as she kicked and screamed. He would have done the same, he would, but only babble came out of his lips and his body hurt when he tried to get out of the bed, trying to reach the only person he knew in this room.

A woman, all clad in white, half of her face hidden in a surgical mask, grabbed him by the shoulders, keeping him in place as he trashed about. A man, looking just like her, grabbed his only arm and pushed a syringe on his shoulder. He kept trashing, kept trying to scream and follow Vivi out of the door, not feeling.

Numb.

The pin and needles feeling came back, the wild beeping ringing on his ears but much slower than before, growing fainter and fainter as some of the strangers stepped back.

He saw the ceiling, white. Too white for his liking. The beeping got fainter, Vivi’s voice lost to it like a very small, inaudible echo as nurses ran around the room to get syringes.

He could feel his fingers twitching again, over the numbness, making a weak fist that he knew was not there.

 _Nothing_ was there.

Arthur’s eyes rolled to the back of his skull, the numbness and smell of rubbing alcohol kissing him good night.

* * *

 

_Beep..._

 

He woke up to a warm feeling on his hand.

He could feel something warm, something rubbing a very small circle on the back of his palm as it squeezed it gently, barely any strength there. Almost afraid to put any, afraid to put too much pressure or push too hard.

He squeezed back just as weakly, eyelids twitching softly as the blond tried to open his eyes.

“Arthur…?”

“V-Vi...vi?”

Light danced over his closed eyes, making odd shapes in a variety of colors before he fully woke up. The white of the hospital room still hurting his vision, but not as bad as the first time he woke up.

“Shh, don’t push yourself…”

“W-Wha…”

Arthur groaned, dry lips and throat making it difficult to speak and he felt he had not drank anything in months. Coughing weakly at the same time he made a fist to cover his face.

It took him a second to figure out that nothing had happened, there was no fist covering his coughs and the blond stiffened before turning his head away, coughing more as his friend rubbed soothing circles on his back, mindful of the bandages covering it.

He looked over the white bandages covering the stump where his left arm used to be, dread griping at him as he grabbed the bed’s sheets in a tight fist, his breathing picking up just slightly, throat closing up.

In the verge of a panic attack.

“A-Artie, Arthur, don’t.” Vivi whispered, tired blue eyes looking between her friend’s face and the fist on the bed. “Arthur, look at me, okay? Look at my eyes, p-please. _Just breathe_.”

Arthur gave a small nod, still looking at his lack of left arm. Holding Vivi’s hand tightly when she slipped it to hold his. The blond forced his head to turn around, his eyes wild as he looked at his friend’s face. He could just notice how red rimmed her eyes were, bags pulling under them and hair unkempt, as if she had spend many nights without sleeping.

She looked so tired.

“V-Vi...w-what happened…?”

He can’t remember, drawing a uncomfortable blank.

“I-I...I don’t know…” She mumbled, squeezing his hand once again. He could feel his breathing slowing down, panic going away slowly. “T-The police said that they found us i-in the middle of the road.”

“W-What?”

Vivi nodded, unsure how to continue for just a few seconds. “T-They said that they f-found us unconscious, a few miles away from town. T-They think there was an accident, o-or that a wild animal caught us by surprise, they closed down the road to look for it…”

Arthur gave a deep sigh, trying to keep down the vomit that tried to claw up his throat, imagining his missing arm being digested by a cougar or a bear.

Maybe the feeling of his fingers twitching was just because something was biting them off.

“Oh god...a-are you hurt, Viv?”

Vivi laughed, humorless and dry. Almost guilty. “No, just a few bumps and scratches. Nothing a band aid can’t take care of.”

“G-Good, good.” He gave a relieved, pained sigh. The corner of his lips trying to muster a smile that surely came out more as a grimace than anything else. “I-I’m glad you’re a-alright.”

Maybe it was the wrong thing to say, the wrong time. Vivi’s smile wavered, her hand gripping his shaking slightly as her eyes watered. Her lips parting to say something that didn’t quite came out as she blinked away tears.

“Oh, Artie…”

The hug was that came was partly a surprise, and Arthur awkwardly put his right arm around Vivi’s middle, holding her as she sobbed on his shoulder. It took him a minute to realize that he had started sobbing too, quietly, getting comfort from his best friend as she mumbled his name over and over, apologizing for something she didn’t do.

Arthur sniffled, eyes puffy and cheeks damp as he clung to his friend’s sweater. The numbness creeping away as he burrowed his head on top of her hair.

They’re okay. Partly.

_Mostly._

But they're both alive from whatever that happened, they’re both there.

And he’s glad.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More chapters of just Arthur trying to get used to the fact that he's out of a limb while having Vivi around. I still need to research prosthetics and how do they work for the next chapters.
> 
> I really want to go over the action, and Lewis! But we all have to wait for that one juuust a bit.
> 
> This chapter was super quick, I already had it written, but I don't know when will next one come around, thing about inspiration and all. I'm mostly a fanartist than a fanfiction writer tbh ;v;

He had convinced Vivi to go back to her apartment that night....Sort of. Because they were a town or two away from their home and the police had just managed to recover his van from the middle of the road. Vivi absolutely refused to leave the hospital, but some probing and a firm glare from the old nurse currently attending him got her to stay in a waiting room and not hovering over his bed every minute.

There was some leeway thrown in there, letting her stay just a bit past visiting hours and offering a quick shower.

Arthur would kill for an actual shower, and a shave. He couldn’t exactly say he had a goatee anymore.

The blond gave a soft groan, staring at the stump on his left side, his initial shock nowhere to be seen. He could still feel phantom pains every couple of hours, sometimes so hard that he could swear he was moving his limb at will, only to glance down at it and be confronted with nothing but an ugly bruise escaping the bandages that sealed a scar. It was still surreal, like some sort of twisted dream or reality made up from drunkenness, but he knew better.

“Mr. Kingsmen?” A young nurse popped her head from the door, eyes shining with the same artificial care and tired smile all nurses wore after all day shifts. He had noticed. “You’ve got a visit.”

“Okay…” Arthur expected to see Vivi walking in, just like every few hours. However he had to stifle a surprised gasp when a familiar short, stocky figure walked inside alongside his friend. If he thought Vivi looked bad when he first woke up, that was nothing compared to his uncle.

Lance looked _terrible._

Nothing like the man he had known since he had been ten years old; fearless and grumpy. No, he looked tired, worried, his eyes slightly bloodshot, posture rigid with worry and a fierce scowl on his face as he approached the bed. Arthur would have cowered like a kid who was caught sneaking out of the house as it not been for the painkillers pumped into his system, making him drowsy and slow. Maybe the recovering from blood loss was to blame, too, but he didn’t dwell about it.

His uncle made it to the right side of the bed, tired eyes looking both relieved and angry. Staring still at where his left arm had once been and for a second, Arthur got the bizarre idea that the man that raised him would break down and cry.

Now _that_ would have been a painkiller delusion.

But he didn’t, instead, the old mechanic took a shaky breath and gripped his right hand with his, squeezing it just like Vivi had done the other day; Afraid and soft, as if he would break. He squeezed back weakly, wincing slightly at the lack of strength there.

“ _Don’t--_ ” His uncle started, voice low and soft with concern, even if he tried to make it a reprimand. “Don’t you ever...do something like--like…” Arthur smiled, tired. Feeling relieved of all sudden, like a very weird euphoria washing over him, mixing in with the painkillers and stiffness in his body.

“H-Hey uncle Lance…”

The sharp intake of breath could have been there to cover up a sob, or maybe to keep himself from blurting out something. As soon as it happened he was gently lifted by a pair of strong arms, his uncle mindful of the bandages covering his torso as he hugged him, relief blooming from the very bottom of his soul.

It was soothing.

“‘M-M sorry I made you worry...”

“Boy, did you _ever_.”

A soft sniffle caught his attention, Vivi looked misty eyed as she gripped her bag, a small smile on her face as she stood a polite distance away from the nephew-uncle hug. Arthur had the odd urge to laugh at the sight for whatever reason, but his sore throat prevented him from doing so, instead, mustering a weak smile that could actually been taken as one.

“Now.” Lance cleared his throat, gently getting his nephew back on the bed as he took a few steps back, trying to look gruff as ever despite the redness around his eyes and slight shake of his hands. “I want to know what the hell just happened to you. I don’t hear from you for almost a week and next thing I know, your friend is calling me, telling me there has been an accident two towns over and that you were bedridden in a hospital.”

“Um…”

“ _Speak_.”

“I-I don’t know what happened.” Arthur managed a weak mumble, exchanging glances with Vivi as she held onto her bag. “I-I remember being in the van with Vivi, and then...waking up here with...without…”

Vivi took a few steps forwards, sitting on the left side of the bed and gently, very gently touching Arthur’s shoulders, eyes resting on the purple bruise and bandages before looking over at Lance. “T-The police said they found us in the middle of the road, a f-few miles away from town.” She mumbled, remembering the words she had heard. “They think there was an accident with vehicles, or that maybe a wild animal caught us by surprise and...and took Arthur’s arm. They’re not sure.”

Lance gave a deep breath at the same time Arthur tensed, eyes flashing down to his left and once again feeling his probably digested fingers twitching with urgency. The nurses said that his arm had been too mangled to be a clean cut, ripped wildly as if something had bit into it. He tried not to think on the size of whatever animal that had ripped off his arm so easily and violently.

“A damn animal…”

Vivi looked aside, gently rubbing Arthur’s shoulder as he tensed up under her hand. “T-The police said they closed down the road to look for it...they found a cave last night, and w-were going to look for it there.”

Lance muttered a bitter curse under his breath as Arthur nodded, the younger blond giving a shaky sigh as he tried to relax under his friend’s touch. “O-Okay, I-I hope no one else got hurt.” He mumbled, looking over at Vivi as she sent a small smile on his way. “..W-Wait, we t-took Mystery with us that day, didn’t we?”

Vivi gave a small laugh, very gently putting her bag on top of the bed, by Arthur’s calves. A small black nose popped out from inside the bag, followed by a small body covered in white fur with odd maroon patches here and there. “He’s alright, I just kept him hidden because the staff isn’t really keen of animals inside the hospital.”

“O-Oh.” Arthur smiled slightly, feeling a bit better now that the people (and dog) he cared about were here with him. “H-Hey Mystery.” The dog gave a small whine and gently walked towards Arthur, sniffing his bandages before resting on the blond’s lap, giving another soft whine that almost broke his heart in two. “Aww bud, I-I’m alright, see? Gonna g-get up in no time.”

He really hoped so, because the sight of bandages, white and ever present smell of sterile medical tools and rubbing alcohol was going to drive him up the wall in a matter of hours. It was nauseating.

“H-How many days have I been here?”

Lance looked at Vivi, who in turn gave a weak shrug. “I-I think… A week?” She mumbled, Arthur could practically see her trying to shake her memories awake. “I was out for two days, and y-you woke up three days after me…”

That would explain the tired, worried to dead look Vivi had when he first woke up. Had she been up for those three days? A small stab of guilt bore into his stomach for a moment. “Then yesterday, when police brought the van back, and today…"

“W-Wow…”

It felt like less, or more. He didn’t know, still feeling as if time had warped really oddly around them, too slow or too fast to comprehend, it just didn’t felt as if only seven days had passed. “W-Well, um, w-when can we get back home…?”

“As soon as the doctor allows it.” Mumbled Lance gruffly, giving his nephew a tired sigh as he ruffled his hair. “I’m going to ask the doc in charge about it, be right back.”

“O-Okay, sounds good.”

As soon as the short man left the room, Arthur gave a shaky sight, flexing his fingers a couple of times before slowly petting the dog whining on his lap. “He will want to talk once we’re alone…”

“I figured out.” Vivi mumbled, a gentle smile on her lips as she looked at him. Still tired and maybe just a tad forced, but it was there. “How are you feeling?”

“Drowsy.” The blond replied with a small smile, Mystery burrowing further into his lap. A small and comforting weight. “It’s like I want to sleep and laugh at the same time.”

“Like laughing gas?”

“Sort of, add the feeling of twitching fingers that aren’t there and you got it.”

Vivi inwardly winced, her hand going to the bed and gently scratching Mystery’s snout. “Phantom limb syndrome…” She mumbled, smile slipping away as her dog gave a faint whine, nose twitching. “Arthur I’m...I’m so sorry.”

“What? N-no, don’t be. It was an accident Viv. No one knows what happened.”

“B-But look at you! You needed surgery, you’re bruised, y-your arm… and I’m here, with band aids and ice packs, like I just stumbled down a slippery path, and… and you…”

“C’mon Viv…” Arthur’s smile was small, pained. His eyes looked straight at Vivi’s blue ones before giving a soft laugh, forced. “It was an accident. It’s not your fault that I’m a…a cripple now, okay?”

The blue haired girl’s breath hitched slightly, hands twitching uncomfortably before she threw her arms around the blond’s neck, squeezing slightly as his hand gently gripped the back of her shirt. Mystery shifted slightly, enough to see his owner and her friend embrace, giving a soft bark as he looked at them, tail wagging slowly just for a few seconds.

“I’ll help you in any way I can, okay?” Vivi mumbled, her cheek touching Arthur’s as she whispered the words. “I’ll be there, no matter what.”

Arthur smiled, small and sad, yet relieved. “T-Thanks Vivi.” He mumbled back, closing his eyes just for a second. “I’m glad I have a f-friend like you.”

The girl laughed, soft and quiet, and when she pulled away, they both were relieved to see that the smile on the other’s face looked just a little less sad and defeated.

It was something small, but it was there. 

* * *

 

He had to stay in the hospital for a whole month, the first week when he had been mostly passed out included. Medics kept checking on his injury and talking about prosthetic that he could get if he so decided, nurses changing his bandages and checking to see if the scar at the end of what used to be his arm was healing. If he wasn’t sleeping, high on meds and sometimes blood transfusion, he was bugged by doctors or just talking with either his uncle or Vivi, who adamantly refused to leave his side.

He bugged them to go home. Had asked his uncle Lance to please take Vivi to her house to rest, and that he too should get some sleep. It only lasted about two days before he saw them back on a visitation hour, this time Vivi looked just slightly more refreshed, and his uncle stopped looking at him as if he would break while sleeping.

Vivi dropped by more often than not, Mystery no longer with her as one of the nurses caught her leaving with him. She tells him of things that happened outside the hospital, since cheap movies and re-run soap opera aren’t really his thing.

Tome Tomb got stocked with new comic books not too long ago.

Galahad kept storing away little screws and pins, he looks antsy without him.

Mystery kept growling at nothing for some reason, Vivi thinks there’s a banshee roaming around her apartment building.

The cops found the body of a young man in the cave near their accident the other day, apparently it had been there for a while.

 

“O-Oh.”

“They think he...jumped, or was pushed, I don’t know.”

“P-Poor guy…”

He couldn’t stop thinking about it for the next three days, giving himself a painful headache and a heavier dose of painkillers that he didn’t appreciate.

Rehabilitation was another thing. Once he was deemed strong enough to sit and move on his own, no longer having to eat with a tube, a few nurses and a doctor had moved him to a rehab room and explained him that without his dominant arm, grabbing, or doing things in general, would be a bit more difficult to get used to.

Walking was one of them, his center of gravity getting screwed up with the lack of weight on his left side, stumbling with his own feet clumsily, something his knees not working and falling on them. He had to re-learn how to walk and hopefully become ambidextrous soon.

It was that, or losing whatever usefulness he thought he had. Goodbye engineering, goodbye Kingsmen’s mechanics.

Goodbye usefulness in general.

* * *

 

Arthur insisted on stepping away from the hospital before the month ended. The bill was skyrocketing too fast and it would definitely make a big hole in his pockets, and he was just minutes away from snapping at a nurse that if he saw anymore bandages he would tear his other arm with his teeth.

His uncle had drove the van, with Vivi and himself on the back seat as the girl tried to make small talk about what happened to her apartment building a few nights before, still trying to get her neighbour, an old lady who was half blind, to wear one of her quartz necklaces just in case.

“I want her to be safe while I’m not around, the poor lady wouldn’t be able to handle a banshee.”

“Not around? Tome Tomb getting busy?”

“No, silly!” Vivi smiled, bright. For once the smile had no trace of sadness but an odd determination that for some reason put him at ease. “I’m going to take care of you, duh!”

“W-Wait, what?”

The furtive glance she shot at his lack of a limb lasted just a second or less.

“Well, yeah! As your best friend it’s my duty to make sure that you’re doing okay! So I’m dropping by a lot, ya hear?”

“W-What? No, Vivi--”

“Nu-uh, not changing my mind about this, Kingsmen.”

“U-Uncle Lance! Tell her it’s not ne--”

“Arthur.” His voice was gruff enough to make him close his mouth with a hollow sound. Was it him, or he almost sounded...soft? Resigned? “Vivi talked to me about it the other day. With me fixing the cars around the shop, it’s going to be hard to look over...stuff...on the first days.”

“B-But I can--”

“I know.” The older man noded once, eyes fixed on the road. “But the first few days are going to be hard all around, and I would feel better knowing that there is someone helping out.” This time his voice sounded normal, the usual gruff with just a sliver of exasperation. “And she was pretty insistent too, talked my ear non-stop about it for three days.”

“Four, actually.” Vivi replied back with an innocent smile, fluttering her lashes in what he thought was to meant to look guiltless. A small laugh escaped his lips as she held onto his right arm. Almost as if nothing had happened.

The fingers on his left arm twitched, hard.

It was all it took for his smile to wipe away, a tight grimace on its place as he looked over the window, ignoring his lack of appendage. Vivi’s warm hand slipped to his, giving it a soft squeeze that he shyly gave back, still staring at the empty roads and dull midday scenery.

His fingers twitched again, and this time he decided to focus on the small hand gripping his own, thumb tracing circles over the back of his palm that gave him some sense of comfort, making it just a bit easier to ignore the feeling of a limb that was no longer there.

He hoped the odd twitching and static-like feeling would stop soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing much to say about this chapter, in all honest. I want to go about Arthur getting/building his prosthetic soon, and I've got to go through details that are important but not really exciting to read, so I'm struggling to write the next chapter, but oh well.
> 
> I really wanted to write the last scene, and Arthur still getting a faint feeling that there is /something/ off in general, Vivi remains obvlious but still sort of... feels that, too.
> 
> Action will come soon! Or at least, something less domestic.

Going back home felt surreal, after a trip that took very well five hours and phantom pains every now and then, Arthur realized how homesick he had been while on his stay at the hospital. The small two story house looked brand new to his eyes, even the lawn seemed to be much, much greener than when he last saw it.

Vivi helped him get out of the van, holding his arm and walking small steps towards the front door as Lance fiddled around with something on the passenger seat. A couple of kids, the neighbour's eldest son and daughter, stared at them wide eyed and in silence, peeking from over the tiny fence and bushes as they made their way inside, eyes fixed on Arthur’s left side, filled with wonder and curiosity.

He saw Vivi stick her tongue out at them, only for the little girl to peek her head a little bit higher and stick her tongue out at her as well, a tiny frown on her features before the little boy grabbed her hand and ran back in the house, giving one last look behind before disappearing inside.

The blond laughed, small but vibrant. He raised an eyebrow as he looked at his best friend, who pointedly kept looking at the fence. “T-thanks for trying to defend my honor from an eight and six years olds?”

“That little girl is a fighter.” Vivi huffed, a very small smile forming on her face, apologetic. “Sorry, didn’t wanted them to stare.”

“People will stare...f-for the first days, I guess. Hope.” Arthur mumbled back, Vivi squeezing his arm softly, stepping aside as his uncle made it to the front door and unlocked it, giving them a wide berth to step inside.

“Ok!” The girl said with renewed cheer, and Arthur could practically feel the hairs on his neck standing up. “I’m playing nurse since stepping in, riiiight...now!”

Lance patted his shoulder and closed the door behind him, and for some reason, Arthur had the urge to give a deep, deep sigh.

“ _Oh boy..._ ”

* * *

 

Arthur still spent more of his days inside the house, either on medication or slowly building up mobility on his non-dominant arm. Lance kept a firm eye on him when he was around and watched him as he fiddled with scraps of metal and screws, but being careful of not getting to close or overbearing, thankfully.

Vivi had no such qualms; ‘banning’ him from things that would be too taxing to do alone and keeping a sharp eye on him as she fumbled around his living room in whatever she wanted to do at the moment. Mystery at her heels or, most of the time, on his lap, acting like some guard dog and following him around like a, well, puppy.

That got him and Galahad in more fights than he was glad to admit, the little hamster didn’t appreciate the sudden interest in his owner and was more than glad to roll over or bite the dog’s tail, initiating a scuffle that involved indignant barks and angry squeaks.

So for now he was keeping both of them away from the other. New house rule: If Mystery is around he lets Galahad sleep in.

Being around his tools and blueprints helped his mood just slightly, getting used to handling screws and wrenches with his right hand until the weight of them left him tired. It was still clumsy and slow, and certainly nothing that would help him rebuild anything soon, but at least the familiarity of holding them was there.

He missed fiddling around with parts and drawing blueprints. His meticulous sketches now turned to a semi-legible chicken scratch that left him frustrated more often than not, muttering soft curses and sulking in the couch, were Mystery often came by and made of his lap his favorite resting spot.

Arthur gave a deep sigh, scratching Mystery behind the ear before gently moving the dog to an empty spot on the couch, walking towards the kitchen where Vivi had decided that he had a bit too many instant soups and re-heated pizza this week. She was fumbling around with a pot of boiling water and pasta wrappings.

“You cooking?”

“Yeah! Your eating habits have been bad since ever, so I’m taking over as long as I’m here.”

“Wow, prisoner in my own kitchen.” He gripped his chest, giving a fake look of dismay for a few seconds. “Though you basically survive on instant ramen and sushi. I’ve seen it.”

Vivi stuck her tongue out at him, turning back to the boiling pot with cooking spaghetti. “Yeeeah, but I don’t eat it three days in a row. Gotta cook something up sometimes, ya know?” She nodded, getting a pan that he had forgotten was there in the first place.“And you’re cutting up on Surf’s up surprise pizza. I draw a line when the delivery guy knows your address by memory.”

“What? But the pizza is great!”

“ _Artie--_ ”

“Is it because of the oysters? Admit it, it’s because of the oyster, you dirty mollusc hater.”

“Hey!” Vivi laughed, a real, bubbly laugh that made Arthur’s own lips curl up in a noticeable smile. God, how long has it been since they’ve had a friendly banter like this? It felt like too long, too many sad smiles and broken sighs.

It was nice having this sort of normalcy back.

“Whatever, no pizza for dinner tonight. My culinary skills aren’t the best but at least I get how to make something decent.” She pointed the empty pan at him as if proving a point before setting it back on top of the stove.

“Want help?”

“Hmm.” Arthur saw her stop for a moment, almost as if thinking over her words carefully. His gut twisted uncomfortable, he still could be useful for something. “Su-u-re, hand me some spices? I’m making some tomato sauce to die for. Secret recipe time.”

“Pff, yeah, gotcha.” He smiles, going around his kitchen and finding little packets bottles of spices that he didn’t remember having, handing anything he found to Vivi, who was busy holding the pan with boiling oil at arm’s length, wincing just slightly when it sizzled and popped.

Arthur’s hand brushed a little bottle and froze, looking at the small container with red, spicy condiment inside with something akin to wonder and nostalgia, wondering why he had it in the first place.

He never liked spicy stuff, couldn’t kept his eyes from watering.

He kept staring, ignoring Vivi’s furtive glance as he stood there more than necessary. He could smell the spicy powder inside the bottle, making his nose twitch and his head pound for less than a second.

Someone liked spicy stuff, always smelled like cut peppers…

Right…?

“Artie?”

“W-Whu?”

“You okay? You zoned out for a second there.”

“Y-Yeah, just found a bottle with chili powder. Wondering why I have it, it’s all.”

“Huh, weird. You don’t like spicy stuff.”

Vivi stared at the small bottle in his hands, eyes softening just slightly, glazed over for maybe a fraction of a second before she gave a tight lipped smile, taking the container from him and shaking it a bit.

“Wanna add it to the sauce?” She asked, a bit too quickly, a bit too unsure. Like she hadn’t wanted to say that in the first place. “Extreme spaghetti dinner tonight, whatcha say?”

“You...don’t hold spicy stuff very well either, Viv.” Arthur mumbled faintly, still trying to think on...on what? He didn’t know. What was he thinking about in the first place?

His head was starting to pound.

“That’s why I said _extreme_ spaghetti.” Vivi’s smile became slightly less forced, more calm. “C’mon, I won’t dump the entire thing on it.”

“Okay, okay fine. But if it gets too spicy I’m calling Pi--”

“Not pizza.” She waved her finger. “We can call for some chinese food or go to a drive thru.”

“Yes, _mom._ ”

“Thank you, _son_.”

* * *

 

Vivi ended up pouring almost half of the powder on the sauce, the spaghetti ending up too spicy to eat for them, scorching their tongues with the first taste.

They still ate it though, chugging two cartons of milk by half of the plate. Vivi held a slightly glazed look as she ate, red faced and eyes watering, yet she still looked...elsewhere. Arthur ate slowly, his nose twitching and eyes watering just like Vivi’s, but he couldn’t stop, no matter how much his throat burned and his tongue was half asleep and hot to the touch.

It was nostalgic.

It reminded them of something, they did this before, food just as spicy, but bigger, more people around them.

 

It reminded him of something…

 

Of...

 

...Of someone?

* * *

 

 There was a dull beat somewhere...

Another beat, gray light flickering in place between the darkness. Grief washing over a lone soul as he stared at his hands. The sight of the now familiar cave coated in dried blood making him shake with tears and wails of utter despair.

Tears he couldn’t shed, wails no one could hear.

“Why?”

The locket pulsed, warm and constant, like a heartbeat. Like his? Hers? It pulsed again, glowing a soft, pale gray as he sobbed. How long had he been grieving in the dark?

“Why...w-why did...?”

He couldn’t understand, images flowing into his head; A deep, distorted laugh, choked, hysterical sobs muffled by it.

A shrill scream, making his heart stop completely.

Blue. So much blue, beautiful and calming and lovely all around.

_So much…_

Oh god, Vivi. Lovely Vivi, sweet, charismatic Vivi; screaming her heart out as he fell, as the spikes pierced his body in so many places and small drops of blood splattered against her face. Screaming, crying her eyes out...

Eyes…

Arthur’s eyes, shining oddly, reflecting, staring as he fell, lips curled up in a sick smile...

“…”

Grief, pain. The locket pulsed again, vibrating, growing just a bit warmer against his chest, staring still at the stalagmite that impaled him.

He had smiled, he pushed him, with a strength that he didn’t know Arthur possessed. Looking at him in the eyes as he did so, smiling…

The heart pulsed again, violently, dull gray coloring just slightly as the first flame of anger and pain came to life.

His girlfriend, his best friend.

She, the love of his life. Him, his brother in everything but blood.

“...W...Why…?”

He felt the push again, heard the laugh. That ugly, bone chilling laughter that muffled his screams, those horrible, staring eyes…

It pulsed again, uncomfortably warm, light shining from the locket, where the picture was, before the…

_“Why?”_

He pushed him without remorse. He ended his life, snuffed it out before it could truly begin. Vivi witnessing it, seeing him fall, so, so scared and hurt in a way he wished she never had to feel.

She was alone, scared, with _him_.

With his _murderer_.

_**“Why?!”** _

His grief was washed over by anger. All of it mixing painfully in a cacophony of fire. He felt like sobbing still, like screaming and tearing things apart little by little. Heart too broken, soul too damaged.

His _best friend…_

Fire engulfed the insides of the cave, roaring like a wild beast on its prime. Melting rock and scorching the air until it burned, earth cracking and squealing under the heat of ethereal flames born of deep hopelessness and blind rage.

The ghost roared, sobbed, screamed until the fire died down to cinders and faint embers. The now golden heart pulsing softly, beating to the rhythm of his sorrow and casting a faint light over the stalagmites that ended his life.

Only when his sadness was dulled, and rage started festering inside what was left of him, Lewis Pepper disappeared from the cave in a blaze of bright flames.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, I'm not entirely happy with it but it was kinda necessary to get this out of the way. The next one will have the real good stuff.

Getting out of the house was being a pain, problematic and all around awkward. He had figured out that people would stare and whisper the first few days, and he could handle it for a while, but after two months since his hospital leave and the odd looks filled with unwanted pity was getting on his nerves, bad. Though he supposed there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Vivi had practically moved in with him and his uncle, spending more time around their house than in her own apartment. Lance had been a good sport about it and cleaned a never-used spare room, turning it into a guest room that was soon claimed by the girl as hers, going as far as to slap posters of scary movies and little paranormal trinkets on the walls and window.

Besides her being his new ‘roommate’, Vivi and Mystery were practically glued to his side. Going with him everytime he needed to get out of the house. Vivi holding onto his arm and sending glares to anyone who stared for too much or whispered something about him within earshot, Mystery staring at them with narrowed eyes and a small half bark-growl that instantly made strangers take a step back in surprise.

He was grateful for it, always muttering a small ‘thanks’ that got him a friendly shoulder bump and a smile.

However, there were two little people that were immune to Vivi’s stares and Mystery’s puppy growls, and said little people were currently peeking over the white picket fence, right over some fluffy looking bushes.

Arthur gave them a shaky smile. The neighbour’s children; Danny and Rosie, both eight and six years old, were fascinated by him ever since he got home from the hospital. He had heard their mother (A plum woman with a sweet smile who baked him cookies after the first week he got home.) scolding them to leave him be, but apparently no one listened to her.

Rosie, the little girl with curly black pigtails and a missing tooth was the first one to show up, for the first time in two months doing something more than just stare at him with big blue eyes as he walked towards the house.

“What happened to your arm, mishter?”

Arthur inwardly winced, he didn’t know how to talk with kids, much less how to give a PG version of what happened to him. Why did they seemed to flock to him, out of all people?

“Um, I-I lost it.”

“How?”

“...An accident?”

The blond gave a small sigh of relief as the little girl nodded seriously, curiosity settled until her older brother peered at him from her side, mop of black hair appearing first as a pair of gray eyes bored into him.

“Did it hurt?”

Probably, most likely. But he had been passed out and too drugged up in painkillers to feel anything but his face and right arm for the first days.

“A bit.”

“You shhould get a robot arm.” The little girl’s excited whisper was almost inaudible as she pointed at him. “With lot of blinky lightsh and lashers...”

“It’s not a robot arm!” The little boy, Danny, protested loudly while clicking his tongue. “It’s called a...a protho...uh...p-prothas…”

“...Prosthetic?” He supplied, the little boy getting wide eyed and nodding so hard Arthur thought he could get whiplash.

“Yeah, that! You should get one mister. Like in the movies.”

“A robot arm would be cooler.” The little girl sulked, staring nastily at her brother and Arthur had to suppress a very small smile. “Like megaman! With a laser!”

Arthur chuckled, nodding just slightly and getting a wide, toothy smile from the girl. “Megaman is cool…”

“Danny! Rosie!”

Both children stiffened, quickly scrambling away from the fence and towards their mother, who was huffing and waiting by the porch of her house. The woman gave Arthur a small, anxious smile as an apology and he simply answered with a wave before she ushered her children inside, scolding them softly as they protested.

“Mooom, we weren’t bothering him!”

“Yeash, we were talking about Megaman!”

“Now now, I’ve told you not to bother our neighbour. Get inside, you two.”

The blond gave a dry chuckle, stepping back inside his own home. Vivi was happily watching a crappy zombie movie in the living room, Lance going around the kitchen and Mystery and Galahad glaring daggers against each other by the stairs.

He swiftly moved towards his room, the fingers on his right hand twitched slightly as he stepped inside, grabbing a nearby pencil clumsily as he sat in front of his desk, a silly idea on mind that he wouldn’t mind entertaining for a bit.

“Like Megaman, huh…?”

* * *

 

“I can’t believe I might actually be onto something here.”

“I can’t believe you’re refusing the laser idea here.”

Vivi had come to check on him after he refused to go down for lunch and nearing dinner, only to find Arthur practically swimming through sketch pages and messily scrawled blueprints. He had explained in a flurry the small idea he got, from trying to draw the blue robot’s canon arm to actually, little by little, modifying it until it resembled an actual arm, sans the robot’s canon.

“I mean, a laser would be cool.”

“Yeah, buuut it’s kinda out of my range and...not...really useful?”

“Aw, c’mon!”

The latest blueprint Arthur had been sketching was messy, yet incredible less so than the others. The figure of an arm, along with various descriptions on the sides written in a messy chicken scrawl was visible. Somehow looking quite decent despite the wobbly lines of the letters and sketch.

“...Are you actually thinking on...well, building it?”

Arthur bit the inside of his cheek, flexing the fingers on his right arm. Could he do it? The materials would be...not easy to get, and definitely not cheap...

“I...don’t know, to be honest.” The blond passed his hand through the mane of messy hair on top of his head, looking at some point in the drawing. “I mean, it is a possibility. It’s not going to be cheap, and not a fast process as buying an actual industry-made prosthetic, but…”

“...But?”

“But it would still be much, much cheaper than the actual thing in the long run, even paying for the surgery to conect it to the nerves, and more...I don’t know, personal? I could make small changes and upgrades if the thing gets too...um, old? Adjust size and all that stuff…”

“Well… that does sounds much better than a store-bought one.”

“Yeah, doesn’t it?” Arthur trailed off, a very small smile on his lips that Vivi caught right away was forced.

“...And…?”

“I… I don’t know if I can build it.” He mumbled, glancing at his left side before sighing. “I still don’t really...manage my right arm, and it would be taxing, would take a lot of time and...well… on my own things are going to take a lot of everything.”

“...Artie.” Vivi gave a small sigh, patting his shoulder and making him look at her, albeit slowly. “Honestly, who said you had to do it alone?”

“Viv…”

“We can get people to help, I’m sure your uncle could make a bit of time for you, and maybe knows people who know engineering.” She smiled, and Arthur had to suppress the small, relieved sigh that wanted to escape his lips. “And I can help a bit, maybe. I repaired the van when it broke down once, remember?”

“You got motor oil all over your hair…” He mused, Vivi squeezing his hand softly. “Well, I...I guess it could…”

“It would work.” Vivi corrected with a small grin and eyes full of confidence, and Arthur couldn’t do much but squeeze her hand back, feeling just a bit more relieved than a couple of minutes ago. “Trust me.”

“...Yeah.” Arthur spoke, soft and meek. “Yeah, it would.”

“Now, let’s go eat! I’m starving and you skipped lunch.”

* * *

 

Lance didn’t know what to do anymore.

In a sense, a very vague sense, he was lost. He knew he had to help his nephew in anything he could, he would gladly do so. The boy was pretty much a son to him and he would make damned sure that Arthur recovered from this, no matter what it took.

The only thing he was unsure of, that he was hesitant to bring up was...Lewis Pepper.

The boy had been Arthur’s best friend since childhood, God knew how many times they told people they were family despite not sharing a single link of blood between them. Growing up together in a tight-knit group that he was glad was formed.

But now, Arthur hadn’t mentioned him.

Not once.

Not even Vivi --And the girl was, or had been, Lewis’s girlfriend, had brought him up in any conversation he could have heard.

Did they know? They obviously must have known about the young man’s death. Suicide, the police had ruled it as. Without any clue if he had been alone or not, and the few friends he had having an alibi, like being out of the country, or miles away in the hospital, there was nothing to be said about it.

Lance had thought it was a way of coping, maybe. Turning away instead of dealing with the grief. It could be, it was most likely what was happening, but after so many days, he was staring to get worried.

He had tried to explain the Peppers about it, and while they weren’t exactly happy, still deep in their grief, they understood. They knew why Arthur hadn’t been in the funeral; unconscious for most of that month and still recovering from his amputation. That did not explain Vivi, and he had no idea what to say about her, or for her. Maybe she too was coping with it, just like his nephew.

Turning away from the grief.

The stout mechanic gave a shaky breath, mutely staring at some point out of the window, frowning at the cloudy sky and cold weather. How had things changed for his boy so quickly? So violently?

Lance sighed, hearing footsteps coming downstairs along with soft words and a short laugh, and he knew he shouldn’t push the matter, no matter how much it was beginning to bother him. Arthur was recovering, slowly but steady. Vivi bringing him out of his shell and he was grateful to her for doing so.

The man tried to focus his attention on whatever Arthur and his friend were trying to tell him, something about a prosthetic, about Arthur _building it_ from scratch and Vivi probing him for help that he damned well was going to give.

They kept talking, he kept trying to listen, and Lance made a decision.

He was going to keep quiet.

He would bring him flowers next time he got to the cemetery, say a few words to him and apologize. But as long as Arthur was healing, as long as his nephew kept getting his strength back little by little and still tried to smile at Vivi’s jokes and laugh with her…

As long as neither of them ever mentioned him, he would make it as if Lewis Pepper had never existed.


	5. Chapter 5

Something felt wrong.

No, scratch that. Not wrong  _ per se _ , but very, very odd. Odd to the point that made Arthur uncomfortable and fidgety for no reason apparent, like the feeling of having lost something important a very long time ago and just figuring it out today.

But why?

The feeling was present every time he did something that made his mind go to a slight blank for just a few seconds, things that he couldn’t really explain why was he doing them in the first place.

The poster of a magical girl in his room, safely stored away from the mess.

Staring at a young woman playing the violin on the streets, the song making him feel nostalgic.

The small, chili powder filled bottle tucked away in his kitchen, not being able to throw it away and always taking it out for just a minute to stare at it with wonder.

“Why am I doing this…? I never liked any of these things…”

“Never liked any of what?”

Arthur gave a small yelp, turning around to see a confused Vivi holding a box full of screws and cables in her hands. “Never liked any of what, Arthur?”

“Um… The chili powder, and violin music…?”

“Oh, oh yeah, you never paid any mind to that.”

“Yeah, just...thinking about it, it’s all.”

Arthur scratched the back of his head, pushing any thoughts of the odd happenings to the very back of his mind and focusing on the prosthetic model in front of him, the arm half built up to the elbow, cables and metal littered around it.

Thank God his uncle had a friend who actually knew what they were doing, a man who went to  college and graduated, and Arthur thought he could very well build a fully functioning robot if he so desired. He wasn’t ashamed to say that the man had done most of the building and had the patience of a saint while explaining him how it would work.

“How much do you think it will take?”

“At this pace? ...Uh, probably two...three months?” He shrugged, gaze lingering on the metal scraps for just a second. “I mean, I think it will take that much, surgery included.”

“Well, just a bit more then, right? Gonna have a laser in no time!”

“Pff, yeah.”

Arthur smiled, tight-lipped and forced. For some reason, he just didn’t had it in him today.

He felt so tired.

* * *

 

There was a warm light ahead of a dusty road, brambles and dead flowers covering most of the half corroded stone walls than had once stood tall in place, now little more than shambles falling apart little by little.

Lewis grumbled, low and soft. Tired, if he had to put words to it. The ghost’s mind was still in shambles and his emotions fluctuated a bit too wildly for his liking sometimes, his fire flickering on and off and something growing a scorching white when his fractured soul lingered around hated memories for too long.

Memories of his murderer.

He doesn’t wants to cry anymore, not that he could shed tears anyway. But it hurt too much in places he didn’t know he still had, his anchor always fading to a slight gray when he dwelled in them even for just a second. The memories of his best friend since childhood tainted by his twisted smile and sick laugh.

The smell of fire and a shrill scream.

Revenge is something that quiets the screams, in a sense. He feels that there is something wrong with it but the feeling numbs the pain and the sorrow. Mixing that with his love and worry for Vivi is enough to drive him towards a single direction.

Protect Vivi.

Get the traitor.

Lewis wanted to get him, to get them. To stroke Vivi’s face at least one last time and  _ snap _ Arthur’s neck as soon as he got his hands on him. Toss him into that cave for good measure and stare him down as he fell.

The fire around him crackled, magenta flames licking bone harmlessly while at the same time burning away thorns and leaves as the spirit made his way around the dead flora.

Old ashes stuck to the sole of his shoes, heart-shaped locked pulsing softly against his chest as Lewis took in the ruins of what had once been a building. A mansion, probably. Burnt and abandoned, dark to the point of being ominous and almost calling for him to enter and never step out.

“Bweh”

A small, pink entity escaped from the golden heart. The deadbeat gave a small squeal and gently nudged its master forwards, passing through sticks and thorns as if they weren’t there in the first place, body pulsing at a rhythm that only it alone could hear.

Lewis frowned, his fire still burning away as he stepped closer to the building. His anchor shuddered almost violently as he stood a few feet away from the entrance, the door having been pushed off it hinges a very long time ago, dust covering what had not been burnt away.

“Fwah!”

“Alto…”

The deadbeat gave a squeal, still urging the ghost to enter the decaying building with soft chirps and nudges. The spirit gave in after a few seconds, choosing to float instead of stepping over the rotten stairs.

“What is it, Alto?”

“Rmmh…”

The small entity chirped softly, making a beeline towards the center of the decayed mansion, pink body shining a soft light that pulsed in a beat, circling over a fallen chandelier before chirping once again, urgently calling its master over.

“...”

“Bwee…!”

Lewis, with confusion beating over his skull, followed the trail of the small spirit. The wooden floor was rotten beyond usefulness so the ghost gently floated over them, magenta fire casting a pale, pinkish light over the blackened walls and broken furniture, forming various shadows that took strange forms as he made his way over.

The deadbeat squealed in approval when its master followed it, floating in gentle circles over what had once been a beautiful chandelier, now lying broken on the wooden floor, rust covering most of it while only two old, half melted candles still stood in their place somehow. Alto gave a shudder, pointing at the chandelier with a smile on its face.

“...”

“Bbrrip!”

“...I… don’t understand.”

Lewis would have raised an eyebrow if he still could, as Alto gave an annoyed growl that shook most of its tiny, ethereal body. The pink spirit chirped for a few seconds, calling attention to itself almost urgently. Once it was sure Lewis’s attention was on it, the deadbeat gave a thrill and dove for the chandelier.

It happened fast, Alto’s body turning to flames as it enveloped the fallen piece of the mansion. A part of the chandelier was lit aflame by the spirit’s will, pink fire harmlessly licking over it for a few seconds before the deadbeat made an appearance again, coming from between the flames with something that could have been a laugh as they fire died down.

The two candles were set alight, rust no longer covering the metal, nor there were pieces of it twisted in odd angles or melted off.

“What just…?”

“Fwaah!”

The smallest spirit chirped proudly, circling around its master as it squealed away at what it had done. Lewis, for his part, was both confused and fascinated by what had happened in front of him, staring at the small flames at the tip of the candles with wonder.

His anchor shuddered, beating the ever present golden light in even beats. The bigger spirit still didn’t know why it pulled him to his place, nor why said place was so...welcoming to him. But either way, it didn’t matter. This could work on his favor.

This could help him find his goal.

“...I...I understand.” Lewis mumbled to himself, the fire on top of his skull slowly growing in size as two more deadbeats escaped the golden heart beating over his chest. “I think I do.”

“Mmwheh!”

The three deadbeats chorused something that could have been taken as an affirmative, the different tones of their chirps and squeals blending nicely with each others as they floated in circles over the fire their master was creating.

The skeletal ghost shuddered, almost as if he was taking in a deep breath. His hands curled up into fists as the light that worked as his eyes narrowed inside both eye sockets, determination shining in that fire that started to burn unbelievably hot.

With a mighty roar, the magenta colored flames rose to life from over the top of the ghost, changing to a colorless white as it twirled and crackled, creating shadows just for a second before taking over the mansion, bathing the building in fiery flames that danced over the inner and outer walls before bouncing towards dead land and thick brambles, burning away what flora interfered with the entrance until meeting old stone and ash.

The ball of white fire illuminated the land in the dead of night, thought there wasn’t even a single pair of eyes to witness what was happening in the old, desolated place that was currently burning away as it had done many years ago.

It stopped almost as fast as it had happened. The ghostly fire dying away with a soft breeze, disappearing in the sky and leaving behind an abandoned mansion that, surprisingly, wasn’t blown away in ash.

Rotten floors were back to a mostly presentable state, walls no longer burnt and covered in soot, unhinged doors back into place, once again complete, and old ash no longer clouding the building that now seemed to beat to a melody heard only by it, every inch of the mansion feeling unusually warm to the touch.

Lewis stared at the insides with wonder as the deadbeats squealed in delight, floating in excitement before diving for his anchor, disappearing inside in a soft beat. The golden heart pulsed softly, and Lewis could almost feel something akin to content when he floated deeper inside what now was his home.

It was probably unimportant at the moment, but a step closer to getting revenge, and to see Vivi’s beautiful blue eyes one more time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay of this chapter. Things have been kind of hard around here and the will to write hasn't been around much.
> 
> I'll try for this to never happen here, so the next update should be sometime soon, hopefully!

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, woah. GOSH.
> 
> I'm pretty sure everyone just about exploded with Freaking Out, I know I did! And I spent two days in a row listening to it and Ghost on repeat. Then BAM! Ideas happens.
> 
> I know this had been thought about before, used maybe, but whatever! I like it! The AU in which both Arthur and Vivi lose their memories about Lewis.
> 
> I kinda want to play around with Lewis's revenge here. Because I'm a sucker for angst and violence. A bit, maybe. I want to write my take on what would have happened to Arthur and Vivi if neither remembered the cave accident and by extension, Lewis. How would they move on? Would it be easier? Harder?
> 
> And Lewis. He thinks Arthur did it on purpose. How would he feel seeing his guiltless, traitor, 'normal' murderer still hanging out with the love of his life? Badly most likely. But hey, I want to play around with it!
> 
> Alsooo, English isn't my first language, so I'm whacking my head over here about typos and odd wording. I'm sorry in advance ;v;


End file.
